There are many civil works scenarios where wall structures are required. In some instances these wall structures are made as mounds of self supporting material. In other instances the wall structure boundary is defined by and supported by a multiplicity of substantially vertically disposed concrete panels. The concrete panels allow much steeper wall definition boundaries then mounds of self-supporting material can usually provide. Where concrete panels are used in these situations there arises the problem in some instances of requiring that the resulting wall should be substantially impermeable to the passage of water or like liquids or fine solids such as sand or soil therethrough. This requirement can apply to liquid flow in a direction from within the wall structure to external the wall structure or vice versa.
As one might expect in civil works there can be movement of the wall structure over time. More particularly there can be movement of adjacent panels with respect to each other. This presents a problem to providing reliable seal of the gaps between the panels.
WO2013/057299 to Alphaplan International discloses use of a thermosetting polymer resin as a seal between adjacent panels. Its stated virtue is its hardness. Such an arrangement is not flexible and not at all suited to situations where there is movement between adjacent panels.
FR2415693 to Bachy likewise discloses a seal system for vertical joints between abutting concrete panels in which the seal members are partially embedded in the panels to emerge at niches at the corners of the panels. These corner niches form a confining channel when the panels are in situ making it difficult to heat weld a strip over the ends of the seal members, or even more difficult, welding the overlap of one of the members over the other. Other disadvantages of the Bachy arrangement arise in that firstly, the filling in of the channel after welding prevents access to the seal for inspection and secondly, allows for virtually no flexibility of movement between the panels.
It is an object of the present invention to address or at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages.
Notes
The term “comprising” (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of “having” or “including”, and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of”.
The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons skilled in the art in any country.